Civil servants in Cross River State have expressed disappointment about Governor Bassey Otu’s new minimum wage of N40,000.
The governor announced on Wednesday while speaking to mark the International Workers’ Day celebration at the U.J Essueine Stadium in Calabar.
The workers, who were of high hope before the announcement, lamented that the governor was expected to do more than N40,000. In an interview with The Guardian, a civil servant, Isu Obiewe, said: “I was happy about today, but the announcement of the N40,000 by the governor has spoiled my mood. N40,000 means nothing. It cannot take you for one week not to talk of a whole month.
How do you pay your children’s school fees? How do you service your loans? How do you pay your rent? We get loans and pay through our nose, because the salary is nothing to write home about, and with the hardship that is biting, we were expecting something better, if not spectacular, from the governor. We are highly disappointed by that announcement.
“You could see how the morale of workers changed immediately when the governor made that announcement. What I was expecting was between N60,000 and N70,000. It’s something the state government can do. Please let the governor do something about our salary, this is unfair.”
In the same vein, Ekanem Alex, said: “Workers are not happy due to the high cost of living in Nigeria. You can see it yourself. When Goodluck Jonathan was the President of Nigeria, this stadium used to be filled with people; people were happy.
“A bag of rice was selling at N8,000, but now a bag of rice goes for N75,000 to N80,000 and the minimum wage that they promised us, they have not implemented. They are even confusing themselves. Considering how things are in Nigeria, they should pay a minimum wage of N155,000, which is still too poor.
Earlier, while addressing workers during the May Day event, Otu said that due to the state’s lean resources, caused by the statutory federal allocation, aggravated by the unfavorable state Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the new minimum wage would be in line with realities rather than sentiments.
